The One With the Ringolos
by sue-sylvester-shuffle
Summary: The first FRIENDS story I ever wrote. Yay! "I can't believe you forgot." "Remind me then." J/C slash, originally written on July 18th, 2013 (but I only finished it recently)


**Summary: Joey and Chandler remember a night that both thought the other had forgotten. **

"Hey, guys."

There was a chorus of greetings. Monica stood up and kissed Chandler. The man smiled and came to the couch, carrying a grocery bag.

"I got us some snacks for the movie." he said, and emptied the contents of the bag onto the table.

There was some candy and drinks, along with a small bag of Ringolos. Joey stared at them, and for a moment, Chandler followed his gaze.

"You know what? I don't… I'm not really in the mood to watch a movie." Joey murmured, and stood up. With the eyes of all his friends on him, he left Monica and Rachel's apartment.

"Oh boy. I'd better go check on him." Chandler hurried out of the apartment after his roommate.

Joey was inside his and Chandler's apartment, sitting in one of their chairs. He had his back turned to the door.

"Joey, what's wrong?" Chandler called out, closing the door behind him. He approached his friend and, after a few moments, sat down in the chair beside him.

"Ringolos?" asked Joey in disbelief. "Why would you bring _Ringolos?_"

Chandler bit his lip. Joey seemed very uncomfortable. Could he possibly be thinking of… _that night?_

"Joey…" Chandler began.

"I can't believe you forgot." Joey turned his chair away from Chandler, but the latter grabbed the head of Joey's chair and whirled him around again.

"Remind me then." Chandler replied numbly.

Joey took a deep breath. "Chandler, I don't-"

But the look on Chandler's face silenced him. "Alright." Joey conceded after a few moments. "Well, it was years ago… before you and Monica… well… y'know. Anyway…"

_ Start flashback_

"Hey, dude?"

Chandler looked up from the bag of Ringolos he was eating. "Yeah?"

Joey put down his beer and sat down on the counter. "Have you ever thought about getting married?"

"Oh… well…" Chandler looked uncomfortable. "Not really."

"Huh." Joey picked up his beer again and sat down in his chair beside Chandler. "Can I have some?"

"Sure." Chandler passed the bag to his roommate, and turned on the TV.

Joey took a handful of the Ringolos and started eating them. When he was down to the last one, he was about to throw it into his mouth, but then stopped. He looked from the Ringolo, to Chandler, and back again.

"Do you wanna?" he asked Chandler.

"Hm?"

"Do you wanna marry me?"

Chandler was silent. And then he noticed the Ringolo in Joey's hand, and started laughing. "Ha! Good one, man."

Joey didn't say anything.

"Y'know… because the Ringolo looks like a ring…" Chandler's laughter died down, and he frowned. "Wait. Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." Joey replied.

"Well… okay." Chandler held out his hand. A small smile slid across Joey's face, and he stuck the Ringolo onto his roommate's ring finger. "Looks nice." the actor commented.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." Chandler looked at the Ringolo and smiled. "So, wow. We're married now, dude."

Joey grinned. All of a sudden, he leaned over and planted a kiss on Chandler's cheek. "Yeah, we are… _Mr Tribbiani._"

"No way, _Mr Bing._"

"Bing-a-ling."

"Shut up!"

The two of them burst into laughter. "I love you, dude." Joey sighed.

"Heh… I love you, too."

_End of flashback_

Joey turned around a bit, hiding his face. But Chandler could still see the blush on his roommate's cheeks; they mirrored his own.

"But Joey…" Chandler began. "That's why I brought the Ringolos tonight, dude. I wanted to know… if you still remembered."

"Then… you didn't forget?"

"I thought _you _had!"

Joey grinned. "Dude, I can't believe it. You still remembered that… all this time?"

"Of course, man! How could I forget?"

"Oh, Chandler…" Joey leaned over and hugged Chandler. The latter grinned and hugged Joey back.

"Yeah, we're married. And that's why I'm… I don't want to marry Monica."

Joey pulled away, eyes wide. "What? But… dude, I thought you… I thought you were in love with her!"

Chandler shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. Monica is great… and I love being her boyfriend. But when it comes to marriage… I'm a one-man guy."

A big smile formed on Joey's face. "Aw, dude… I love you!"

"I love you too." Chandler said softly, and he leaned in to kiss Joey on the cheek.

However, all of a sudden, a loud screech split the air. "Chandler, what the hell!"

Chandler and Joey both looked over at the door to see Monica standing there, eyes wide. And she looked _furious._

__**Summary: After Monica walks in on a romantic moment between Joey and Chandler, the two guys must explain what they've done… and not just that night.**

"M-Mon!" stammered Chandler, shoving Joey off of him and jumping to his feet.

"Chandler, what was that?" Monica demanded.

"I was… I… that wasn't what it looked like, I swear!" Chandler glanced at Joey with wide, fear-stricken eyes. Joey felt bad for his roommate; he looked completely helpless. So the actor decided to step in.

"Hey… Monica. Yeah, Chandler was kissing me. So what? I need practise for a part I'm doing for a play." Joey lied. "Sorry about kissin' your boyfriend. Hehe. He sure is fine, though."

Chandler went very red in the face, while Monica just looked angrier. "I heard you, though!" she shrieked. "I heard you talking! You said that you loved each other… and Chandler said that he didn't want to marry me!"

Chandler looked terrified now. "Mon… I'm sorry…?"

But Joey spoke up again. "No, he's not. He's not sorry. _We're _not sorry. And here's why." Joey grabbed Chandler's hand and glared at Monica. "We're _married._"

Monica gasped. "_What!?_" she gasped, and looked over at Chandler. "You didn't _tell _me!"

Chandler opened his mouth to speak, but all of a sudden, Rachel, Ross, and Phoebe appeared behind Monica. "What's going on?" asked Rachel.

Monica wheeled around to talk to them. "Chandler and Joey are _married!_" she exclaimed.

There was a collective gasp, and Chandler winced. "What are you talking about?" Ross asked.

"It wasn't very official…" Chandler muttered.

"It was official enough for us!" Joey argued. He glanced over at Chandler, who nodded meekly.

"But… you're dating Monica!" Phoebe said. After a few moments, she grinned and added, "Nice job, Chandler." Everyone stared at her, but she just turned around and left the apartment.

"Phoebe's right." Monica told Chandler. "You're dating _me. _You can't be married to Joey."

"Or maybe…" Chandler spoke up. "…Maybe I can't be dating you because I'm… I'm married to Joey."

Silence.

Joey grinned. "Thanks, man." he whispered to Chandler.

Chandler swallowed hard. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Monica glared at him. "Well, _fine!_" she exclaimed. "But I thought… I thought we were in love, Chandler."

"I still love you, Mon." Chandler said in a small, faltering voice. "You weren't supposed to know about this."

"Well, I _do _know now." Monica snapped. "So… right now… choose, Chandler. Joey or me."

"What!?" Chandler looked around, eyes wide. "No… I can't. Monica, please…"

But Monica was silent. Chandler's eyes darted between her and Joey, but he then turned and went into his room. Monica huffed and left; Rachel and Ross followed her bewilderedly.

Now that the others had left, Joey went and knocked tentatively on Chandler's door. "Hey… dude?"

"Go away."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Joey. Leave me alone."

Joey hovered at the door, unsure of what to do. "…Okay, man, I'm sorry I told everyone about us."

"Me too."

"Can I make it up to you somehow, dude?"

"Yes. By leaving me alone."

Joey looked sad. "Okay." he murmured in a broken voice that was barely a whisper. He left Chandler's door and went into his own room.

Part of him was waiting for Chandler to come out, because he would eventually, whether it was to go to the bathroom or whatever. But he never did.

Joey waited all night.

**Summary: Chandler has to deal with his two perfect worlds colliding, along with having his relationships with Monica and Joey on the line. **

"Chandler."

"Joey, stop."

"Dude, you've had the whole night to think about it. Please just… will you just _talk _to me?"

All of a sudden, the door swung open, and Chandler walked out. Joey took a few steps back, alarmed; his friend's eyes were red, and his hair was messy.

"I always knew that someday, I'd have to choose between you two." Chandler replied. "I _knew _that, and I was _prepared _for that… when the time came, I would choose, I guess. But I didn't choose… I was so _stupid._"

"Chandler-"

But he wasn't finished. "But since I didn't choose then… I can't have either of you now."

Joey looked confused. "What do you mean, you can't have either of us?"

"You're mad at me, aren't you, Joe? You wouldn't want to still be my husband… and Mon doesn't either… she's mad at me…"

"I never said that." Joey said. "I'm not mad at you!"

"But…"

"I'm serious. We're _married, _dude, and that's not ever gonna change." Joey replied fiercely.

A small smile spread across Chandler's face. "Thanks, man… And sorry I was… y'know… distant last night…"

"That's okay, dude, you were stressed."

"Yeah…" Chandler sighed. He leaned over and gave Joey a hug. Joey hugged him back, but after a few moments, Chandler added, "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Yeah?"

"I still want to be with Monica."

"Yeah, okay. You've been dating both of us for a while, why end that now?" Joey chuckled.

"Yeah, but she knows about you and I now…"

"That won't make any difference, dude."

"But… yes. Yes, it will." Chandler looked down at the ground. "I… I want Monica to feel like she can trust me… to love only her."

It took Joey a few moments to put two and two together. "Dude, are you…?"

"Yes. I'm… I'm sorry, Joey. We have to end this."

Joey looked crushed. "But Chandler… I thought we were in love."

"We _are. _And I really don't want to do this. But I want Monica to feel safe with me, knowing that I'm not with anyone else." Chandler explained.

"Then just _tell _her we're not together, but can't we still be?" asked Joey.

"That's not being honest, dude." Chandler looked uncomfortable. "I want to be completely honest with her."

"Why are you choosing her, anyway!?" Joey asked. His tone was filled with rising anger, but most of all, hurt.

Chandler opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"I mean, what is better about her than me?" Joey continued to rant. "I mean, we _live _together. We're married… and you know that I _love _you. Can she boast _any _of that, dude?"

"I don't know, really." Chandler murmured. "I guess… I'm still a little uncomfortable about the fact that… well…"

"The fact that we're both guys?" Joey accused.

Chandler gave a tentative nod. "Maybe. It's just… my whole life, everyone thought I was gay. I always told them I wasn't. But now… if I tell everyone that you and I are together, it'll be a huge 'I told you' moment for a crap load of people."

"But why should that matter?" argued Joey desperately.

"…You're right, it shouldn't." Chandler sighed. "Let me think about this some more…"

"Okay!" Joey said. "And, uh, Chandler… I love you."

The frown on Chandler's face melted away. "I love you too, Joe."

** Summary: Rachel and Ross decide to help Monica by talking to Joey and Chandler separately. Meanwhile, Monica makes an important decision… **

"I can't believe this. I just _can't._"

"I'm sorry, honey." murmured Rachel soothingly, rubbing Monica's back.

"That son of a…!" Ross grumbled. "I'm gonna kick his ass! Cheating on my little sister!"

"Why are you all so surprised?" asked Phoebe. She was sitting in the chair, sipping at her tea as if nothing at all had happened. "You never _knew _about those two?"

"You _did?_" Monica gasped, as all eyes suddenly turned to the blonde hippie. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Mon, I'm the puppet master." explained Phoebe calmly, with an air of having explained this before. "I know _everything _that's gonna happen, because I hold the strings."

"Then tell me… Who will Chandler choose?" Monica asked. "Me or Joey?"

"I can't tell you _that!_" scoffed Phoebe. "But, uh, it's Joey."

"No!" Monica started sobbing. Rachel put her arm around the brunette.

"Is there anything we can do?" wondered the blonde gently.

Phoebe shrugged. "Well… you could _try _and change the future, but I don't know if that'll work, Rach. Sorry."

Rachel glanced at Ross. "We can _try._" she said.

Ross nodded. "I'll find Chandler. You find Joey. Try and convince him to leave Chandler alone. And I'll tell Chandler the same."

"I… I have an idea." piped up Monica.

"You can try your idea if Rach and I fail, okay, Monica?" Ross offered.

Monica nodded, and flopped back onto the couch.

"Let's go." Rachel and Ross both stood up. They went across the hall to Joey and Chandler's place.

Joey answered the door. "Oh… hi, guys." he murmured, avoiding their eyes. "Um, can I help you?"

"Where's Chandler?" Ross asked brusquely.

"In his room." Joey answered. "Thinking."

Ross pushed past the Italian actor and stormed into Chandler's room. Joey looked over at Rachel. "Do you wanna talk to Chandler too?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Actually, it's _you _I want to talk to."

"Okay." Joey went over to the couch with Rachel at his heels. Just as they were sitting down, they heard a _thump _and a cry from Chandler's room.

Moments later, Chandler rushed out, one hand pressed to his left cheek. Ross came out, looking furious.

"What the _hell, _Ross!?" Chandler exclaimed. He went to the freezer and yanked out an ice pack, which he held to his face.

"What happened?" Joey demanded.

"He _punched _me!"

"Ross!" Rachel scolded. She and Joey jumped up from the couch; Joey went right over to Chandler, while Rachel ushered Ross toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Ross sputtered.

"That was totally uncalled for, Ross!" Rachel shouted.

"He's cheating on Monica, Rach! _Monica! _My little sister! He deserved that!"

Rachel shook her head. She shut the door on him, and pulled the lock closed so that he couldn't return.

"Thanks, Rach." said Chandler quietly.

Rachel went over to the couch, where Chandler and Joey were sitting together. "Are you okay?" she asked Chandler tentatively.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess…" He, like Joey, was avoiding her gaze.

"Don't do that." Rachel called him out on it. "I'm not angry at you, so you can look at me."

Chandler looked up slowly, and Rachel saw that there was already bruising around his left eye. She frowned.

"If you're just gonna punch him too, then you can leave!" Joey spoke up bravely. He had one arm around Chandler's shoulders and was finally meeting Rachel's eyes, with much anger in his.

"No… I'm not going to punch him." Rachel sat down beside them. "I'm just here to talk." After a few moments' consideration, she added, "To Chandler. Just Chandler. Sorry, Joey…"

"Okay." After planting a quick kiss on Chandler's cheek, Joey headed into his room and closed the door.

Chandler looked a little lost without Joey's arm around him. Rachel ignored this and began.

"I think you know why I'm here, honey."

He nodded. "Because you want me to be with Monica. I know that."

"Right. I just want you to make sure you're making the right choice." explained Rachel. "This thing with Joey… It's just a fling."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you never showed interest in Joey before. You never showed interest in _boys _before, either." Rachel replied matter-of-factly, folding one leg over the other.

"That you _knew _of." Chandler said shortly. His expression disclosed nothing, and Rachel realized that he was right.

The blonde sighed. "Well, Chandler, really. Think about it. You _know _that any relationship with Joey is bound to end sooner or later. When he sees any pretty girl, he'll be over you in seconds. Monica is ready for a serious-"

"Joey loves me." Chandler blurted out, his voice wavering slightly. "He _does. _I thought the same thing at first, Rachel… but he promised me. And I trust him. Remember that we've been together longer than you know of… It's been years, and he's met some very pretty girls. But he loves _me… _and I love him too."

For some reason, Rachel found herself all choked up. She dried her eyes on her sleeve, suddenly very aware of Chandler's eyes boring into her as she did so.

"I had no idea." she stammered, looking back up at him and smiling sadly. "Oh, Chandler, I was so wrong. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Rach." he replied softly.

"You go for it, honey." She leaned forward to hug him. "I'll talk to Monica and the others. This is going to happen for you two."

Chandler squeezed her tightly. "Thank you, Rachel…"

A little while later, Rachel returned to the apartment. "I couldn't do it." she admitted.

"What?" Ross and Monica came over to her, both frowning.

"I can't. I just can't." She looked embarrassed. "Joey and Chandler really love each other. I don't want to be the one to break them up."

"Well, I _do._" snapped Monica. Gathering her bathrobe around her, she stormed out of her apartment and right into Chandler and Joey's.

Chandler was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. He was alone; Joey was nowhere to be seen.

"Chandler." she called out, making her presence known.

He looked up, and immediately flinched away from her gaze. "M-Monica… Hi."

She walked right up to him. Chandler edged further away from her; she wasn't sure what he thought, but he was _not _expecting her to do what she was going to.

Monica dropped onto one knee, wrestling a little box from the pocket of her bathrobe. Chandler stared at it, horrified, as if it were a vial of grotesque poison.

"Chandler Bing… Will you marry me?"

**Summary: Chandler is unnerved by Monica's startling proposal.**

Chandler stared at the ring in front of him. He didn't say anything; he just stared. Monica stared back at him, waiting for him to open his mouth.

It was desperate, she knew it. It was way too early in the relationship. They didn't even live together yet. And he was in love with a man. But it was her last hope; a Hail Mary plan.

When Chandler finally spoke, it was a single word. It was a single word, but it held so much regret.

"No."

Monica felt like the ground was caving in under her knees, but she didn't move. She didn't stand; put away the ring, and pretend that that had never happened. She kept the tiny box outstretched toward Chandler, as if waiting for him to change his mind.

In that moment, Joey walked out of the bathroom, carrying a magazine. However, when he saw what was happening, both the magazine and his jaw dropped.

"What are you doing?" he sputtered at Monica.

"Don't worry, Joey, he said no." Monica said bitterly. Chandler finally tore his gaze away from the ring, looking relieved to do so. His eyes settled on Joey and stared at him rather helplessly.

However, Monica wasn't finished. "Come on, Chandler." She shoved the box toward him; he edged away from it as if burned, then got off of the couch and went to stand beside Joey.

"What are you _doing, _Monica?" Chandler cried. "You can't… can't toy with me like this."

"I'm not _toying _with you. I love you, and I want you to marry me."

Chandler bit his lip. "Monica, I… I know… and I love you too… but…" He stared down at his feet, cheeks burning with shame.

"You _had _your chance, Monica." Joey growled. "Chandler chose _me. _Deal with it."

"But I _can't _deal with it." Monica choked out, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I _didn't _have my chance. I thought we were happy together… And then I found out that he'd been with you… this whole time." Her hands began to shake, and she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Mon. I should have told you long ago." Chandler admitted. "But I didn't, and I'm really… really sorry." He turned away. "My God. It's all my fault."

"Yes. It is." Finally, Monica stood up, legs shaking like dead leaves in the wind. "And I'm sorry too, Chandler. I'm sorry you didn't tell me." Dropping the little box on the floor, she huddled her bathrobe around her and left.

Joey stared at the ring on the ground. Then he turned to Chandler. "You okay?" he asked, placing his hand on his roommate's shoulder.

"I'm… I'm a horrible person." Chandler said. His voice was trembling; strung tightly with sadness. He turned to Joey, who noticed that there were tears in his eyes.

"No, you're not." Joey opened his arms, inviting Chandler to come in for a hug. When he did, Joey wrapped his arms around him.

He heard Chandler's quivering breath right near his ear, which soon broke into near-silent crying. Joey squeezed him tightly. "You're not." he repeated. "You're not a horrible person. I swear."

"I made Monica cry, Joe." Chandler whispered. "Did you… did you hear what she said? All the stuff about… not being able to deal with it, and… she thought we were happy? That. That makes me a… a horrible, terrible person, Joey."

That was hard to argue with. Even through his barrier of fury, Joey had felt kind of bad for Monica, sitting on the ground, crying, spilling out her tale of jilted love.

**Summary: Phoebe comes to talk to Joey.**

Joey was sitting alone on the couch. Chandler was in his room, still upset about what Monica had said. Joey had a cup of coffee, which he was staring into, like a polluted brown pool. He could see a fraction of his reflection, a sad, frowning face in the sea of caffeine.

He knew that he couldn't be blamed for much of what had happened, but still, he felt bad. Maybe he just felt bad for Chandler, who had taken the brunt of a lot of anger in the past few days; Monica's, and Ross's, even Ross punching him. At least Rachel had been supportive, and Phoebe hadn't been involved much. Chandler didn't deserve that at all.

"I'm with you."

Startled, Joey looked up. Standing in the doorway was Phoebe. "Um… thanks?" he said.

"Rachel is too, you know." Phoebe went and sat down beside Joey, folding her skirt under her legs as she did.

"I know."

"We want you two to be happy."

"Thanks, Phoebs."

"And even though Monica and Ross are mad, we'll try and make sure that they don't ruin things for you."

Joey leaned over and kissed Phoebe on the cheek. "Thanks again."

Phoebe smiled, and kissed him back. "No problem, Joey." She stood up and headed out of the apartment.

All of a sudden, the door to Chandler's room opened, and he came out. "Was that Phoebe?" he questioned. "I thought I heard a woman's voice."

"Yeah, it was. She said some pretty nice stuff; I'll tell you later. But…" Joey stepped forward. He took both of Chandler's hands. "We're going to be happy."

Chandler gave a little smile. "I know, Joey."

They embraced each other. Chandler sighed; he felt comforted, engulfed in Joey's warmth.

And for a moment, nothing else existed. Monica, or Ross, or even Phoebe and Rachel. Just the two of them.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." Joey replied.

And everything finally felt okay.

end 3


End file.
